Up to 500,000 Germans watched their team destroy England on Berlin's "Fan Mile". Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters

The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Wednesday 30 June 2010

The colour story below noted the jeers from World Cup viewers in Germany when TV coverage showed two British fans in Bloemfontein dressed in what looked like "German military uniforms from the first world war". The fans' outfits were mainly a mishmash of RAF uniform and kit.

Continuing in the tradition of the headline war between the British and German red-tops, the front page of today's Bild Zeitung urged the nation to "Cheer and chill, let England grill", and that is precisely what millions across the country did.

Hundreds packed the pews at the Admiralspalast in Berlin, a Weimar-era varieté theatre and one of the city's scores of temporary World Cup public viewing venues.

"This isn't football, this is so much more when England and Germany are playing," said Joshua Müller, who had settled in a red velvet chair and draped his black, red and gold German flag over the balcony, to watch on a huge screen.

When each of the four goals was scored, the spectators rose from their seats, threw their arms in the air and roared with such force it felt like the ceiling would lift off. The biggest jeer was reserved for the view from Bloemfontein of two English fans dressed up in what looked like German military uniforms from the first world war, whose expressions appeared inconsolable.

Over on the Kurfürstendamm avenue, a parade of cars blasted their horns, and flew the German flag from their windows and sunroofs. Turkish Germans also joined in the celebrations – a first for Berlin – as they waved both Turkish and German flags in honour of the members of the team with Turkish heritage, Özil and Serdar Tasci.

On Berlin's official "fan mile", between the Brandenburg Gate and the Victory Column, up to 500,000 fans were estimated to have gathered. They turned the six-lane street into a sea of black, red and gold in ecstatic scenes that were repeated in towns and cities across the country.

Bushido, one of Germany's biggest rap stars, appeared to perform his hit song Flames in the Wind, which became the team's unofficial anthem when it was brought into their dressing room early on in the tournament by the midfielder Sami Khedira. The crowds roared when he sang: "The German team fights and Germany fevers with them."

Rarely has Germany been in such an outwardly confident mood about winning a World Cup match. Despite its record, there has always been a particular nervousness about playing England. This time the newspapers, although they took several days to warm up, gave as good as they got from the British tabloids, crowing over the result after the match.

The tabloid Bild Zeitung led the field with its headline: "Revenge for Wembley". It said while Germany had had a "huge dose of luck", more than anything "the game was revenge for a legendary scene played out 44 years ago in the World Cup final of 1966."

The paper described the "dumb struck" mood in England's pubs as fans tried to digest the defeat, and described how "While Schweinsteiger was kissing his girlfriend, the English were left to cry", accompanied by the invitation on its website to "click here for pictures of how beautifully England cries", which showed a range of weeping fans.The liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung summed up the day with the simple, but for England fans, cutting headline: "Wembley's Now Called Bloemfontein".

In the coolness of the Admiralspalast and outside in the sweltering heat of its courtyard, copious amounts of beer, bratwurst and pretzels were consumed as fans soaked up the atmosphere that was reminiscent of the summer of 2006 when Germany hosted the World Cup.

There was some sympathy for England's unrecognised second goal, but the only cheer for anything English was the sight of Mick Jagger spotted in the crowd at Bloemfontein.

"I feel strangely sympathetic towards England, especially with the lost goal. But Germany played with such panache, it's one of those rare occasions I can say I'm extremely proud to be German." said Frauke Schmidt, a producer.

"But it feels like they raised their game purely and simply because they were playing against our great rivals England, and for that I'm truly grateful."